My Gift To You

by Tracie Delaney

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered as her face began to burn.

  Gabe said nothing as he climbed off the bed and disappeared into an adjacent room, but he was back seconds later, holding a bathrobe.

  He passed it over to her. “Here. This will make you more comfortable.”

  Livvy clutched the gown against her, which at least allowed her to cover her modesty, and when Gabe turned his back, she could have wept at his thoughtfulness. She quickly shrugged into it and fastened the belt around her middle.

  She swung her legs over the bed and began gathering her clothes, averting her gaze from him. “I’ll get dressed and then be out of your way.”

  “Stay, please,” Gabe said gently. “I don’t want you to go, not like this.”

  Livvy’s chin dropped to her chest. “I’m so sorry for leading you on. It’s just… I can’t…” She covered her face with her hands. “Oh God.”

  Gabe’s fingers curled around her wrists, and he tugged her arms apart. As they fell by her sides, he clipped her under the chin. She tilted her head upward as her eyes went to his.

  “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed. You’re right. It’s far too soon, but please don’t go. I want you to stay.”

  Feeling an overwhelming need to explain herself, Livvy gave him a wry smile. “It’s my scar, you see. I—”

  Gabe placed his forefinger over her lips, silencing her. “You don’t need to justify anything to me.”

  She frowned. “Why aren’t you more angry? I led you on and then didn’t follow through.”

  Gabe’s eyes flashed. “Now that makes me angry. Jesus, Livvy, you have the right to say no at any time. You didn’t lead me on—you simply changed your mind.” His gaze softened then, and he chuckled. “I might need to engage in a little… self-service later, and I can’t promise that I won’t be thinking of you when I do.”

  Livvy laughed, and as she did, the tension in the room evaporated. “You’re quite something, you know.”

  Gabe leaned forward until their lips were close, but he didn’t let them touch. “I’ll wait, Livvy. As long as it takes.” He moved back and rubbed at his chin, his gaze thoughtful. “You’re so different from what I’m used to, so refreshing. You let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll be waiting.”

  And with that, he turned his back and left the room, leaving her alone to dress.

  Chapter Ten

  Gabe was as good as his word, and he gave Livvy space to come to terms with her minor—okay, major—freak-out. Over the next few weeks, whenever he had the time, he arranged lots of fun and interesting things for them to do together, and while Livvy kept waiting for him to get bored of her company, not to mention the serious lack of physical contact, he showed no signs of that happening.

  One Saturday evening after another fun outing that culminated with Gabe persuading her to ride on the Ferris wheel at The Santa Monica Pier, Livvy sat with her head on his shoulder as he read through a contract for a company he was considering buying. He’d told her he had to do a site visit in the next week or so, but fortunately, the company was based in LA, which made Livvy feel both relieved and scared. She was relieved that he wouldn’t be going away, especially because her visa would run out in six weeks, and she needed to grab every precious moment. However, she was scared because she didn’t know how she would cope without him when she returned to England.

  “Good day?” Gabe asked as he leaned forward and refilled her wine glass.

  “Mm-hmm,” she replied.

  Gabe nudged her with his shoulder. “What’s the matter, Livvy?”

  “What makes you think anything’s the matter?”

  “Because you’ve been pretty quiet all day, apart from when you screamed like a banshee when I rocked the Ferris wheel.”

  She gave him a look of disdain, which made him laugh. “That was a mean trick.”

  He held his arm out, and she took his invitation, folding herself against his chest. “Come on. You can tell me.”

  “I’m going home soon.”

  Gabe’s arm tightened around her. “What?”

  She nodded against his chest. “My visa is up in six weeks.”

  “So extend it.”

  “I tried, but I got turned down.”

  “When was this?”

  “A few weeks ago, not long after we met.”

  Gabe rose from the couch and picked up his phone from the coffee table. Without saying a word, he left the room. Livvy crossed her legs and chewed on her fingernails, wondering whether she should follow him or let him be. The fact that he didn’t seem happy about her impending departure made her heart squeeze with sorrow. Their time together had been a wonderful interlude, but she was up against the clock, and it was ticking down.

  Gabe returned about ten minutes later, a broad grin on his face. “Problem solved,” he announced, looking very smug.

  Livvy frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Your visa has been extended for a year, and if that isn’t enough, then it’ll be extended again, for however long you want.”

  Livvy’s eyes widened. “How did you manage that?”

  Gabe chuckled. “I know a couple of people at the State Department. Your passport will need to be updated, but I can get it worked out for you. It’s a shame you didn’t tell me earlier. I could have saved you the worry.”

  Livvy shook her head as relief at not having to go home yet rushed through her. “That’s some power you have.”

  He grinned and ran his finger tenderly down her cheek. “Well, darlin’, it’s a selfish act, really. I like having you around, and I don’t want our time together to end yet.”

  Livvy repressed a wince, but Gabe seemed unaware of the effect his last word had on her. Still, he’d never made her any promises, and even if it all finished tomorrow, at least she got to stay in California for another year.

  She hugged herself and grinned back at him. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  Gabe held out his arms, and she scrambled to her feet and pressed against him, her hands tucking into the back pockets of his jeans. A rush of desire caught her by surprise. She didn’t know whether it stemmed from gratefulness, happiness, or good old-fashioned need, but she wanted to feel close to him. He’d waited long enough, and so had she. Their abortive attempt from a few weeks ago seemed as if it had happened to a different person.

  She tilted her head back and cupped her hands around the back of his neck, easing his mouth to hers. For a brief moment, Gabe hesitated, but the pause didn’t last long. He knitted his fingers into her hair and took control, his mouth moving over hers, his tongue lapping inside. He grew hard, and his erection nudged at her belly. Desperate to give him a sign without having to say the words, Livvy hooked her legs over his hips. His hands automatically cupped her backside, supporting her as she rubbed herself against him.

  Gabe tore his mouth from hers. “Jesus,” he groaned. He tried to put her down, but Livvy squeezed with her thighs and held on.

  “I want you.” She poured as much sincerity into her voice and her eyes as she could.

  Uncertainty swept across his face, and he gave a small shake of his head. “You don’t have to do this.”

  Livvy chuckled. “Oh, I know. But I want to do this, and I want to do it with you. I’m not changing my mind, not this time.”

  A soft noise eased from his throat. He set her on the ground and led her upstairs. Livvy hadn’t been in Gabe’s bedroom since that fateful evening, but this time, the panic was notably absent, and the desire was very much present.

  Gabe pressed his lips to her neck, but then he pulled back. His gaze swept over her from head to foot, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Okay, Livvy, this time you’re taking the lead. We’re going at your pace.” When she frowned, he continued. “You undress yourself, and you undress me when you’re ready. We have all night. There’s no rush.”

  Oh, he had to be kidding.

  Livvy shook her head violently. “No. I
want you to lead.”

  Gabe caressed his top teeth with the tip of his tongue. “Not happening.”

  Livvy’s stomach rolled. This wasn’t her bag. She’d never been good at taking the lead, even with Mark. She was too English, too uptight, and too goddamn scared.

  She took a step forward, then another. With fingers that felt as if they’d been fused together, she tried to unbutton Gabe’s crisp white shirt. After she had several fumbles, he took pity on her and deftly unbuttoned it but left it hanging open.

  Livvy slipped her hands inside and over his broad shoulders, and when he shuddered and closed his eyes, his head falling back, she trembled in response. She slid the shirt down his arms and let it fall to the floor.

  Her eyes flickered to his, but Gabe’s were still firmly shut. Forcing a deep breath into lungs that wouldn’t expand, she tackled his belt first, which unfastened without any trouble, then she groaned.

  “Button fly,” she muttered under her breath. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Gabe’s warm chuckle reduced her nerves a touch, but when she struggled to unfasten even the first one, she let out an irritated sigh and yanked the material apart.

  “Someone’s in a hurry,” Gabe murmured, and when she looked up, his eyes were twinkling, although desire had darkened them to a deep jade rather than their usual soft emerald.

  Livvy peeled Gabe’s jeans down his legs. He stepped out of them and stood back, waiting for her to undress. An urge to slow this down and draw it out slipped into her mind, but her nerve wouldn’t hold. She dragged her T-shirt over her head, unfastened her jeans, and threw them on the floor near Gabe’s clothing. She slipped off her bra, but there was something about the final step of being totally naked that made her leave her panties in place.

  She crossed her arms over her chest, and a hot flush spread from her neck to her cheeks as Gabe slowly appraised her.

  “Panties on. I can work with that,” he said, a glimmer of a smile tugging his lips upward. “What next, Livvy?”

  She gave him a panicked look. “I did what you asked. Now it’s your turn.”

  Gabe wagged his finger in the air. “Uh-uh. You’re in charge from beginning to end. What do you want me to do to you?”

  With a look of dismay, Livvy chewed on her cheek until an idea came to her. She held back a grin, which might have tipped him off as to her intention. “So you have to do everything I say?” She glanced up at him through her lashes in the best innocent stare she could muster.

  He nodded. “Yep. Everything. Anything. It’s your call.”

  “Good,” she said. “Then I order you to take over.”

  Gabe paused for a beat then threw his head back and laughed. “Goddamn smart woman.” His arm shot out, and he snagged her around the waist, pulling her into his body. Gabe had muscles on top of muscles when fully dressed. When he was naked, she could feel every hard edge of him. A tremor ran through her as he gathered her hair into a ponytail before gently tugging back her head until she had no choice but to look at him.

  “I may have to make you suffer for that little stunt,” he said with a wink in case she took his words literally. Before Livvy could respond, his mouth covered hers in a kiss that demanded she comply. There would be no backing out. She wouldn’t run this time.

  He leaned into her, forcing her to walk backward. When her knees hit the bed, she fell onto the soft mattress.

  “Now, how shall I make you pay?” Gabe straddled her and tilted his head to one side as he pretended to consider her punishment. Then he leaned forward and pulled her nipple into his mouth.

  The abruptness of the action made Livvy’s back arch and her toes curl as a low moan fell from her lips. She’d forgotten the sheer bliss of a man’s touch. Her core clenched as Gabe rolled his tongue over her pert nipple before grazing it with his teeth.

  “God help me,” Livvy muttered as butterflies swarmed her stomach.

  Gabe lifted his head. “We can stop at any time.”

  Livvy responded by pressing his head back to her breast. She felt his smile against her flesh before he lavished her nipple once more.

  He traveled south, his mouth and his tongue sending her nerve endings into overdrive. She didn’t know whether her body had forgotten these sensations or whether they were completely new experiences, but as fire licked through her veins, she almost lost her mind.

  Gabe’s fingers snaked inside her panties. He pressed his thumb to her clit as his middle finger slipped into her wet heat. Livvy’s hips rose from the bed of their own accord, although even through her hunger, she sensed him giving her scar a wide birth.

  She let her hands wander over his muscled back, his broad shoulders, and his thick, soft hair. She was almost fevered in her exploration of him, as though she couldn’t get enough… as though she’d been starving and was suddenly being presented with a buffet fit for a queen. When he replaced his finger with his tongue, she tried to clamp her legs together. The intimacy of the act with a man she’d known for only six weeks overwhelmed her.

  “Gabe… no.”

  He lifted his head as he heard the uncertainty in her voice. “No because you want me to stop completely, no because you don’t like it, or no because it’s too intimate?”

  Jesus, could he read minds?

  “The last one,” she mumbled as heat flooded her face.

  He grinned against her inner thigh. “Relax,” he murmured. “Intimacy is good, Livvy.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut as he returned to his previous… activity. As his tongue penetrated her once more, she forced herself to focus on the sensations rushing through her rather than the more-than-a-little-embarrassing situation. Must be an English thing. Mark hadn’t been massively interested in oral sex, so she didn’t have a whole lot of experience with it. But once she put aside the apprehension of having Gabe’s mouth on her most intimate parts, dear God… It… felt… good.

  Her body began to crest, climbing higher and higher, until she peaked and exploded. Lights flashed behind her eyelids as if she were watching her own personal fireworks show. Her toes curled, her legs twitched, and her core clenched repeatedly around his tongue.

  She’d barely recovered when Gabe moved over her. But as she prepared herself to welcome him into her body, he dropped a quick kiss on her forehead and rolled to the side.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, more than a hint of frustration leaking into her tone.

  He pulled her into his arms and rested her head against his chest. “No fucking condoms,” he said with a chuckle. “You kind of took me by surprise.”

  Livvy smiled against his heated skin. “I’m on the pill. You’re good.”

  Gabe shook his head and kissed her temple. “I’ll grab some tomorrow. That is if I haven’t scared you off completely.”

  Livvy raised herself up on her elbow. “There’s no risk of pregnancy, Gabe.”

  “I’m not concerned about that.”

  Livvy frowned, then realization swept through her. He was talking about STIs—or whatever the Americans called sexually transmitted infections—which meant he’d had sex with someone else recently. Unprotected sex. Or worse, he thought she had.

  Livvy sat bolt upright and pulled a sheet around her. Gabe was lying on it so she yanked hard then wrapped it around her chest. She almost ran to the adjoining bathroom. As she slammed the door, she fumbled for the lock and turned it.

  Her legs wobbled, and she allowed them to give way beneath her as she plunked down on the toilet seat. How long ago had he had sex? Today or yesterday? Last week? Her stomach rolled, and she swallowed down bile. God, she’d let him put his tongue inside her. Where else had that damn tongue of his been?

  Gabe knocked on the door. “Livvy, what’s going on?”

  She ignored him, instead turning the faucet on full blast and making a big production of flushing the toilet. She needed to play this cool, to show him his philandering didn’t bother her one little bit.

  After taking a deep breath, s
he opened the door and stepped back into the bedroom. Gabe was standing off to the side, still wearing his boxer shorts, his arms folded across his chest. “You okay?” he asked in a low voice as though testing the water.

  Livvy gave him a bright smile. “Absolutely.” She began to pick up her clothes from the floor but hadn’t gotten far in dressing when his arms came around her.

  He tore her bra and T-shirt from her grasp and tossed them behind him. “Don’t lie to me.” His lips caressed the shell of her ear, causing a tremor to travel through her body. “Is this about the whole condom thing?”

  Livvy managed to wriggle from his grasp. “Don’t be silly,” she said, hiding her anguish behind a too-bright smile. “We’re not exclusive, particularly as I haven’t been exactly… forthcoming. You’re free to sleep with whomever you choose. I really appreciate you putting my health first.”

  She bent down and picked up her bra then put it and her T-shirt on before glancing around to see what had happened to her jeans.

  “Livvy.” Gabe had a sharpness to his voice that hadn’t been there before. “For fuck’s sake, stop getting dressed and talk to me.”

  Livvy ignored his request. She spotted her jeans and dragged them over her legs, giving him another dazzling smile. “About what?”

  Gabe planted his hands low on his hips, irritation written all over his face. “I haven’t slept with anyone since I met you at Sam’s.”

  “Okay,” she said, looking around for her purse.

  “Livvy!” Gabe clamped his hands around her upper arms and gave her a quick shake. “I never have unprotected sex. Ever. Just because I wanted to use a condom doesn’t mean I have anything. Nor does it mean I think you do, either.”

  “Good to know.” She spotted her purse on the floor, picked it up, and slung it over her shoulder. “Thanks for a lovely day. I’ll ring for a cab.”

  She headed for the door, but before she reached it, Gabe’s arms came around her. His warm breath on her neck sent shivers up every single vertebra of her spine. “Don’t go. Not like this.”